The Walkmen

Matt Kassel's blog (coldjazz.blogspot.com) has got me thinking that I should return my own blog, which has been pulled in more directions than a compass at a magnet factory over the years, to music writing. I've also just been to Osheaga and I'd like to have my impressions recorded somewhere so I can look over them in a few years after I have forgotten them.

Though the Walkmen came on at one in the afternoon, there was no way I was going to miss them. I remember hearing "The Rat" on a Chocolate Skateboards video several years ago, and I got their singles soon after. Maybe they're tired of that song by now, or maybe they opened with it, but what I heard came mostly from their latest album and the one due out in September. They were surprisingly clean cut, which mirrored the faithful renditions of the album versions with which they bombasted the gathering crowd.

Though Paul Maroon's guitars were drenched in all the reverb his overdriven Fender Twin could muster, the Walkmen's sound worked because their instruments, refreshingly effect-free, sounded good on their own. The same held true for Hamilton Leithauser's vocals, which managed to be both unaffected and affecting, on-key and off-kilter. They held together like only a guitar, bass, B3, and drumkit can: a colour-by-numbers rock band, but an earnest and hardworking one.

No one worked harder than Matt Barrick, the drummer, whose jockey-like stature was only equalled by his jockey-like ability to drive the group forward. He played the drums right-handed, but with his right hand crossed under his left, an unusual playing style which probably came from his tendency to hit the highest toms with it instead of the snare during most of his beats.

That was the most peculiar thing I could discern in the whole of their set. The Walkmen are not a surprising band, but they have unusually good material and a phenomenal sound which speaks to very sober equipment choices and a coherent vision of their sound. The equally sober 1 p.m. crowd seemed to enjoy it as much as I did. It makes me wonder what it'd be like to see them play a late-night set, when all the lights and smoke trained on them would actually be visible. They would probably play "The Rat" then. And it would be raucous.

Then Go

You've got a foolproof excuse to hang out
I have nothing to be worried about
And I wonder, in time... I flounder in doubt
Should I go?

You've got so, so many friends
I've no idea where I fit in
I follow my lines, poison my pen
I'm careful to keep more than I expend
And then go

Oh, now, I'm not a quitter
Come now, don't be so bitter
Somehow, I'll find a reason to stay
Away

You've got a strained note to your laugh
Following mine after the joke's passed
And I wonder if I'll find I don't know the half
If I go

You've got a new bold look in your eyes
I've a new bold hand on your thighs
I'd be a partner in crime if only I were to try
And not go

Head Full

I am a boy with a head full of god
Lungs full of secondhand smoke
I play guitar and sing in a bar
In between lines of coke
You're bringing me downtown to the movies
I'm coming down on living room couches
I've been in love for my whole life
I've been in love for my whole life with you

Can I tell you a confession of mine?
I'll write you a note
And now that I've opened my heart and signed
I can leave you with a quote
"It's opener there in the wide open air,"
It's opener there
I've been in love for my whole life
I've been in love for my whole life with you

Give me a minute I'll just waste your time
Give me a minute and I'll waste your time x2
You're bringing me downtown to the movies
I'm coming down on living room couches
I've been in love for my whole life
I've been in love for my whole life with you

Life Savers

Your teeth were white, full of fluoride like sharks'
I wondered if they would glow in the dark
Like a life savers wintergreen spark

Life savers made in Montreal
Where they still have the five-flavour roll
I hate to choose because I like them all

Chorus:
I hope you find my facts interesting
So I never have to tell you my thoughts
So I never have to show you enough
To see me tick

Made in Michigan for many years
Designed and built by an engineer
Who moved them here? It was the financiers

I read it only works with wintergreen
They're pretty cheap right after Hallowe'en
You told me that you'd already seen

Chorus

I hope you think that I'm interesting
And that you will leave me alone
I'll decide that I want you around
Just about as soon as you go

Catching Up With The Rain

I am an angel awaiting descent
I stand like a letter that I never sent
The way that Abel last looked at Cain
I picture myself catching up with the rain

Before I die I make a quick calculation
Of my kinematics in one dimension
And it turns out I'm falling too far
It shouldn't be more than five or six yards

And that wouldn't kill me, I'm pretty sure not
I hope that you see me, I hope I get caught and it scares me away

I realize my death wish is passing at best
So I take a shower and then I eat and get dressed
I'm shaking the dust of this crummy town
Off of my feet, and I'm gonna see the world
I'm shaking the dust of this crummy town
Off of my feet, and I'm gonna see the world

Cigarette Two-Step

I want to see the seas drain away
Climb down the rocks to dance
On the ocean floor

While you do the cigarette two-step
Sliding out the back door
We both try to ignore the cold

Chorus:
Soap is slippery, skin is sharp
I never doubt it I felt it
Skin is slippery, soap is sharp
I never doubt it I read it

I want to hear the rain fall at once
Not just a trickle but a thunderous clap
To wake me up in the dark

You need the smell of morning coffee
The sound of somber mourning families
On your TV

Chorus

I want to ride the trees growing
To breeze-blowing heights
I'd meet the slate blue sky

You bring your lunch in a brown paper bag
A hag wrinkles slowly and slowly's
How it's always done
But I'm already done

Red Plaid Shirt

She was new to high school and impressionable
He wore a red plaid shirt that was exceptional
Things progressed exactly as they usually do
When I met her they were broken up and she was on her way to school
With the shirt already tucked into her bags

She said she didn't steal it
But knew she was gonna keep it for a while
If it ever starts to hurt
She just wears her red plaid shirt
And feels alright

I had just come out to university
In the early days, when drinking was the worst on me
I was caught outside once in a rainstorm
On the way to her party, and so I needed clothes
And the shirt was warm upon my back

I swore I wouldn't steal it
But knew I was gonna keep it for a while
If it ever starts to hurt
I just wear my red plaid shirt
And feel alright

You moved to my apartment for the summer
I went home and thought no more about her
Crossing on the shores of my Lake Wobegon
You found it in my closet and you thought you'd try it on
And the shirt was gone when I came back

You said you didn't steal it
But I know you're gonna keep it for a while
If it ever starts to hurt
Just wear your red plaid shirt and feel alright
If it ever starts to hurt
Just wear your red plaid shirt and feel alright